July’s red-hot wrap-up; New Atlantic storm gathers steam

Image: The National Hurricane Center is clossely watching a vigorous wave (#1) in the Atlantic, which has potential to develop as it moves west. For more, see below.

July was one of the hottest on record coming in with an average mean temperature of 84.9 degrees (the high and the low for each day). That was 2.4 degrees above normal, according to the National Weather Service in Miami.

Looking at data from the Southeast Regional Climate Center, we haven’t had a July this hot since 1998, when we came in at 84.5 degrees. We’ll have to await the official NWS analysis to see what place July 2010 takes in the books.

It was dry, too, with a precipitation deficit of 1.37 inches despite a brush from Tropical Storm Bonnie and an inch-and-a-half drenching on July 5-6.

We had 26 days in the 90s, with a pair of brutal 96-degree readings on July 12 and July 30. The lowest temperature was a rain-cooled 73 degrees on July 16.

The National Prediction Center forecasts hotter than normal for the Palm Beach area in August, with normal precipitation. The average high temperature is 90 each day, although we kick off the month with an average high temperature of 91 through Tuesday.

One thing to note is that we do lose some sunshine – 10 minutes in the morning and 17 minutes in the evening – as we begin to roll toward fall.

We also head into the peak of the hurricane season, speaking of which:

The system in the eastern Atlantic that was designated 90L by the National Hurricane Center weakened, but was then overtaken by a stronger wave to its east. The two are now one new storm, 91L, which the Hurricane Center says has a high chance of developing into at least a depression, or Tropical Storm Colin.

This system doesn’t look like it’s going to go away. But it’s a long way out, fortunately, and anything can happen. It was plotted at 9N 35W, 3,188 miles east-southeast of Palm Beach. It was headed west at 5 to 10 mph.

Computer models for the time being are backing off on shuffling this storm out to sea. They push it just to the northeast of the Antilles and then possibly toward the Bahamas. It could ultimately be a threat to the Keys.

Conditions appear favorable for development and some models make this system a hurricane in three to four days.

This is definitely a system to keep checking back on during the upcoming week.

About the Author

John Nelander is a freelance writer, book editor and publisher in West Palm Beach. Weather Matters features news and observations about the weather with a focus on what's happening in South Florida. The blog also looks at the latest studies on climate change as well as what's happening in the weather forecasting biz. His website is www.pbeditorialservices.com.